Name/TitleArtwork: Femi Otitoju
About this objectOne of nine audio books consisting of a small wooden chest with a push button and speaker, and a card insert alongside created by Ingrid Pollard for her No Cover Up exhibition. This audio book features Femi Otitoju, Haringey Lesbian and Gay Unit, 1986.
MakerPollard, Ingrid
Maker RoleArtist
Portfolio TitleNo Cover Up
Date Made2021
Period2020s
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, wood and card
Inorganic, metal and plastic
Place MadeScotland, Glasgow
MeasurementsH: 100 x : W: 85 x D: 70 mm
Subject and Association KeywordsArt & design
Subject and Association KeywordsGlasgow International Festival of Visual Art (GI)
Subject and Association KeywordsLGBTQ+
Subject and Association KeywordsParticipatory art
Subject and Association KeywordsBlack women artists
Subject and Association DescriptionNo Cover Up exhibition at GWL, 28th
http://www.ingridpollard.com:
"Ingrid Pollard is a photographer, media artist and researcher. She is a graduate of the London College of Printing and Derby University.
Ingrid has developed a social practice concerned with representation, history and landscape with reference to race, difference and the materiality of lens based media. Her work is included in numerous collections including the UK Arts Council and the Victoria & Albert Museum. She lives and works in London UK"
https://islington.humap.site/map/records/femi-otitoju:
Femi Otitoju has spent her life working for LGBTQ+ equality as an activist, volunteer, writer, campaigner and with her own equality and diversity consultancy, Challenge, which began in 1988 and is still in operation today. Femi was born in Nigeria and spent her first years in Sussex before attending school in Hackney. She came out as a lesbian in the late seventies, volunteering first for the London Lesbian Line and later for London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard for about 13 years. She also lead its Training Group for two years, and during which time she was also Chair. Femi helped set up the first Black Lesbian Group in the early 1980’s and much of her lesbian-feminist campaigning at the time included Spare Rib, volunteering in women’s centres, producing the London Women’s Liberation Newsletter, and contributing to books and magazines including Outrage and Outwrite, Active Citizens, and Radical Records. Femi was a regular in the London nightlife at the time, and she “hung around in gay men’s clubs wearing leather and hung around in lesbian clubs wearing dungarees some nights and dresses on others.” She was also on the management committees of, the London Lesbian and Gay Centre, the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre and Stonewall Housing Association. Throughout the 1980s she marched with Lesbian Strength, Pride, Reclaim the Night and spent ridiculous amounts of time at conferences whilst writing as a Capital Gay (London based gay weekly newspaper) columnist for two years. Femi became a “professional lesbian” as a founding member of staff at Haringey Lesbian and Gay unit, and was there between 1986 and 1988. Femi has chosen the pub formerly known as the Carved Red Lion as the location for her entry on the map. The Carved Red Lion was a popular spot for London’s lesbian community, a place Femi describes as “a rare and precious thing, a women’s club that was open every evening”. The plaque is located near the building.
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeArtwork
Object numberGWL-2021-54-8
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved